Body armor



Aug. 5, 1947. b. c. HOWARD BODY ARMOR Filed Sept. 5, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet1 4 Ilunn E- HIJWtlId aarmwam Aug. 5, 1947. D. CfHOWARD 2,424,985

BODY ARMOR I Filed Sept. 5, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WWO Patented Aug. 5,1947 UNITED STATES PATENTQOFFICE,

- (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883., as

' amended April 30, 1928.; .370 0. G.. 757) diagonal, overlappingpockets, adapted to receive strips of material in which individualpockets containing metallic inserts are arranged in hori 'zontal,overlapping relation.

A further object of my invention is to provide a method of attaching oneside of a pocket or a series of pockets to a heavy backing, inoverlapping relation. v

A still further object of my invention is to provide a method of cuttingoppositely disposed fabric sections which arejintegrally woven andconnectedby cross sections, whereby the cut fabrie section may be sewedor stitched, by the use of a conventional sewing machine, to a heavybacking material or fabric to form a series of overlapping pockets.

With these and other objects in view, as will hereinafter more fullyappear, and which will be more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings forming apart of this application in which: I

Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a section of body armorconstructed in accordance with my" invention, showing the manner inwhich the individual strip pockets are inserted and positioned therein;I

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the ladder type fabricweave used to form the pockets of my invention and indicating the pointswhere the fabric is to be cut;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of the fabric of Fig. 1 illustratingsame after the cuts have been made;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating the manner in which thefabric cut accordin to Fig. 3, may be sewed or stitched to a heavyfabric backing;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating a modified form ofthe invention, indicating the points to be cut;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of the fabric of Fig. 5, illustratingsame after the cuts have been made; and

Figure. 7 is a diagrammatic. view, illustrating the manner in which the,iabric out accordin to Fig. 6 may be sewed or stitched to a. heavyfabric backing.

It has long been recognized in the art that an effective armor or bulletproof vest can be provided by overlapping relatively thin, flat disks ofsuitable metal or alloy. The chief difilculty has been to find asatisfactory manner of retaining such disks in the proper overlappingrelation and in maintaining the disks with the proper degree ofelasticity. adjacent. a relatively heavy backing. such as canvas or thelike. This featureis not only desirable but essential if optimum resultsare to be obtained, and this elasticity must im part a substantiallyuniform cushioning eliect surrounding the point of impact.

Various adhesives, etc, have heretofore been proposed to attach one sideof a pocket, or a series of overlapping pockets, such as illustrated inFig. l of my invention, to. a heavy backing; of canvas or the like, inorder to obtain the proper cushioning effect, and special arms to beat.- tached to commercial sewing machines have been considered, but allhave been deemed unsatisfactory ior one reason or another, such asunsatisfactory results, prohibitive costs, etc.

By the use of the method disclosed by the present invention asatisfactory armor has; been produced economically, and the method ofnroducing this armor as well as the resulting product. is believed to benovel. Ladder type weave, in which opposing sections of fabrics areintegrally woven with connecting diagonal cross sections, of the typeshown in Figs. 2 and 5 of the accom panying drawings, is well known inthe art, and by employing the method of the present invention, One ofthe transverse sections shown is eliminated and one side of the fabriccut in such a manner that the out side may be folded back as illustratedin Figs. 4 and 7 and the cut sections sewed to the heavy backing by theuse of a, con-- ventional commercial sewing machine.

Referring now to the drawings in which similar reference charactersrepresent similar parts. in Fig. 1 I have illustrated a section of bodyarmor constructed in accordance with my invention, comprising a backingsection 2 of heavy canvas or thelike to which is attached by sewingorstitching an intermediate section 4 of re1atively light weight fabric,and a front section 6 connected to the intermediate section byintegrally woven diagonal transverse sections 8, forming a series ofhorizontal, diagonal, overlapping pockets l0, adapted to receive stripsof material l2, having integrally woven pockets [4, adapted to receivethin metallic plates, not shown, of a type well known in the art ofbullet proof vests. It will be noted that the pockets H! are overlapped,horizontally, whereby the individual scale-like metallic plates, wheninserted in the pockets M of strips |2,'"and strips IZ inserted inpockets I 0, are maintained in both vertical and horizontal overlappedrelation.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 3 and 4 in which I have shown the preferredembodiment of the method of making the product illustrated in Fig. 1,the numeral 4 represents one side of a ladder type weave of relativelylight fabric well known in the art, integrally woven with opposing side6 by transverse sections 8 and Hi. In Fig. 2, section 4 is cut at thepoints A, while transverse-section I6 is cut at B and B and the materialbetween these cuts B and B discarded. This cutting re- 4' is integrallywoven with opposing side 5 by transverse sections8' and Hi. In Fig. 5,section 4' is cut at the points C, while transverse section I6 is cut atBand D and the material between these cuts D and D discarded. Thiscutting results in the form of product diagrammatically shown in Figs. 6and 7.111 which the ends of the sections 4' are designated 4 and 4 Fig.7 illustrates the manner in which the uncut section may be folded topermit the sewing or stitching by a conventional sewing machine to theheavy backing 2, at I and 4 or at any other desired points therebetween.

While I have illustrated and described the invention in some detail, itis to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to suchdetails, but only by the spirit of the invention and the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of forming a series of overlapping, diagonal pockets forbody armor secured to a relatively heavier backing fabric, in whichonpositely disposed, relatively lighter, fabric sections integrallyconnected by diagonal transverse sections are employed, comprisingcutting alternate transverse sections, cuttingjone of said fabricsections at predetermined points on each side of the uncut transversesections, folding back the uncut fabric section, and successively sewingthe cut ends of the fabric section to said heavy backing.

2. A method of forming a series of overlapping, diagonal pockets forbody armor secured to a relatively heavier backing fabric, in whichoppositely disposed,rrelatively lighter, fabric sections integrallyconnected by diagonal transverse sections are employed, comprisingcutting alternate transverse sections, cutting one of said fabricsections adjacent each of said cut transverse sections, folding back theuncut fabric section and successively sewing one cut end of the cutportions of the fabric section to said heavy backing.

3. A method of forming a series of overlapping, diagonal pockets forbody armor secured to a relatively heavier'backing fabric, in which0ppositely disposed, relatively lighter, fabric sections integrallyconnected by diagonal transverse sections are employed, comprisingcutting alternate transverse sections, cutting one of said fabricsections adjacent each uncut transverse section, folding back the uncutfabric section and successively sewing the cut portions of the fabricsection to said heavy backing. i

4. A section of body armor comprising a, relatively heavy fabricbacking, and a relatively light integrally woven ladder web constructionfabric comprising fabric sections integrally connected by spacedtransverse diagonally positioned sections wherebya series of horizontalrows of overlapping integrally woven diagonal pockets are formed, saidfabric being attached to said backing.

5. A section of body armor comprising a relatively heavy fabric backingand a relatively light ladder web construction fabric comprising fabricsections integrally. connected by spaced transverse diagonallypositioned sections whereby a series of horizontal rows of overlappingdiagonal pockets are formed, said fabric being attachedto said backingand adapted to receive overlapping scale-like metallic plates in saidpockets,- and means for maintaining said plates in overlapping positionboth vertically and horizontally.

6. A section of body armor comprising a back-. ing and a ladder webconstruction fabric forming a series of horizontal rows of overlappingdiagonal pockets attached to said backing, a. strip of fabric in eachdiagonal pocket, said strip being formed with a series of integrallywoven overlapping pockets and adapted to receive a scalelike metal platein each overlapping pocket in said strip, the strips being so positionedrelative to each other and to the diagonal pockets whereby the platesadapted to be received bysaid strip pockets will be arranged in avertically and horizontally overlapping relationship. l

7. A section of body armor comprising a fabric formed with a series ofadjoining horizontal overlapping pockets, a strip of fabric in eachpocket, said strips being formed with pockets overlapping in thedirection of'the' length of the strip and adapted to receive ascale-like metal plate in each of said strip pockets, the arrangementbeing such that the individual plates will overlap both honzontally andvertically. v

8. The method of forming a series of overlapping pockets on a fabricbacking from fabric sections integrally connected by diagonal transversemembers comprising cutting alternate diagonal transverse .membersconnecting said fabric sections. cutting one of said fabric sections atpoints between the remaining diagonal transverse members into portionsattached to said remaining diagonal transverse members and successivelyand positively securing some of said out portions to the fabric backing.

DANA C. HOWARD.

REFERENCES orrni) The following references are of record inthe file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date A:

